Mon. Sept. 6

 Seventeen years ago, Ed Hardy gave Dr. Lakra three tattoos – Jesus Christ, a pirate gal and a prawn. Ten years ago, Dr. Lakra – no more a Dr. than Dre or Demento, but a well-respected Mexican tattoo artist - reciprocated by inking an image on Hardy of a demon pissing on Christ. (More piss Christ art! Remember Andres Serrano?)
      The 38-year-old Mexican tattoo artist’s real name is Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez. He said it translates to Dr. Scumbag. (Our interview was done via e-mail and translated from Spanish; this is an expanded version of a Q/A that ran in the Boston Phoenix, www.thephoenix.com.– check it out). The name “Dr, Lakra” was bestowed upon him. It started because bag he used to carry his tattoo gear looked like a doctor’s travel bag. So Lakra inks on skin and many other inanimate surfaces. His first US solo exhibition – 60-plus pieces, mostly from American collectors - is up at the Institute of Contemporary Art and runs through Sept. 6.     Lakra, who started tattoing in the early ‘90s,  acknowledges how in this culture, tattoos have become prevalent and, certainly, less of an “outlaw” badge. In America, 36% of the people 18-35 have them. Once it was verboten, forbidden. There was a day when tattoos seemed to be primarily inked on sailors from the World War II era, bikers,gang-bangers and convicts. Things started to change with the punk rock movement of the mid-1970s and has only grown since. Here in Massachusetts it was illegal until 10 years ago.
    Tattoos, he said, have less infiltrated the mainstream thatn the mainstream has absorbed it. “In a way,” he added, “it’s all about money.”
    His inspiration was the punk-skate-metal culture in Mexico City. That and reading Hardy’s “Tattootime.”  The questions and answers below are out-takes from the Phoenix interview.
What tattoos do you sport? Did you do them yourself?
When I started tattooing, I practiced a little on my legs to try out needles or different dyes. And I made a couple of tattoos on my left arm but I haven’t tattooed myself in a while. I have figurative tattoos.

Did you have formal training or were you self-taught?
I am self-taught.

When did you move from tattooing people to working on objects? What was your inspiration in doing so?
 
I didn’t move from one to another; I continued to do both things. Some friends in Guadalajara showed me that you could tattoo plastic.

So you do tattoos on people and objects. What are some of the most unusual tattoos you’ve done on people?
I imagine that the most unusual tattoos I made are cosmetic tattoos like eyebrows or beauty marks. Once I tattooed inside a nostril. A little while ago I made a rooster with a snake’s body but for me that is not so unusual.

You tattoo vintage magazines, Japanese prints, plastic cups and Kewpie dolls, found objects. What makes something a good vehicle for a tattoo?
The tattoos on plastic cups and dolls (not only Kewpie dolls) are created with a tattoo machine; the work on paper is done with a brush.  The majority of things that I have in my collection of trash are objects that I find in markets or that magically find their way to me. Sometimes, I think that it is they who find me and not I who finds them.

Does the mainstream of tattoing take some of the edge away from it?
It depends. There are many different situations. A tattoo from LA Ink is not the same as one from Maras Salvatruchas cqor one from the Sarawakcq of Borneo. Luckily there are places where mainstream does not mean anything.

Is your art influenced by the escalation of the Mexican drug wars?
No, my work was like this before the drug war. Anyhow, I live in Mexico and am sensitive to what is happening and this impacts my whole life, not just my work.

You do tattoos on people and on objects, many of them “found.” What are some the most unusual tattoos you’ve done on people? Will you do what people request? Do you draw the line anywhere – is there something you will not tattoo, like, say a swastika or something?
I imagine that the most unusual tattoos I made are cosmetic tattoos like eyebrows or beauty marks. Once I tattooed inside a nostril. A little while ago I made a rooster with a snake’s body but for me that is not so unusual. I no longer support myself from tattooing; I just do things that interest me.

Do you still tattoo people or just objects?
Just people. Sometimes, on special occasions, dogs and cats.

The curator of your ICA exhibit, Pedro Alonzo, says though you’re best known as a tattooist, you consider yourself first and foremost a draftsman. Can you explain?
In my work, I incorporate tattoos, yes… but it isn’t the only thing I do. I also do works that have nothing to do with tattoos, like drawings or objects, etc.  

You tattoo vintage magazines, Japanese prints, plastic cups and Kewpie dolls. What makes something a good vehicle for a tattoo?
The tattoos on plastic cups and dolls (not only Kewpie dolls) are created with a tattoo machine; the work on paper is done with a brush. The majority of things that I have in my collection of trash, and that I always use to work with,  are objects that I find in markets or that magically find their way to me. Sometimes I think that it is they who find me and not I who finds them.

You also mix symbols from different cultures, Mexican, Maori, Thai, Aztec. What draws you to these various cultures? Is there a common link?
The common thread is tattoos. From each culture, there is something distinct that I like.
 
Are you an R. Crumb fan? Whom do you cite as influences or inspirations?
 I like his work but am not a fan. I don’t collect his books. The influences change very quickly. Comics in general have always been an influence for me, but also Flemish paintings or record covers.

Check website below for hours. Admission: $15.

290 Northern Ave., 617-478-3100 www.icaboston.org